UMNO: Three Down but more problems ahead for Party President

UMNO: Three Down but more problems ahead for Party President

And so Mukhriz Mahathir, a son of Prime Minister Najib Razak’s greatest enemy, is no longer in the hallowed halls. All is well in the UMNO camp once again. But is that so?

As perfect as the situation may seem for Najib and his supporters, the reality is that Mukhriz’s ouster has only deepened the divide between UMNO’s leadership and its grassroots.

Mukhriz’s replacement, Ahmad Bashah Md Hanipah, is a proven weakness. Kedah would still be a Pakatan-held state if not for Mukhriz and the bigwigs who campaigned for him in the last general election. And while he may have preferred spending time in the big city to staying put in largely rural Kedah, he nonetheless ran the state credibly.

As a son of Malaysia’s longest-serving Prime Minister, Mukhriz’s pedigree would have been unquestioned in any other period of our recent political history. But these are times when Najib holds unchallenged power.

Mukhriz nonetheless went down swinging. He told the press that the true reason UMNO wanted him gone was that he had the gall to criticise the PM over the 1MDB scandal and the issue of the RM2.6 billion donation. In doing so, he affirmed the belief of thousands of supporters, as well as many other Malaysians, that Najib Razak cares only for Najib Razak, and that there will be hell to pay if any UMNO leader dares to step out of line.

Even the opposition members of the Kedah state assembly went to bat for Mukhriz, with all 15 of them endorsing a statement calling for Najib to step down instead. They said the removal of the Menteri Besar must be done according to the law. Far from merely attempting to drive a wedge between the ruling party and the people, the opposition here voiced out what many Kedahans have been saying — if there really is a crisis of confidence, put it to a vote and show the people that Mukhriz really has lost the support of the state assembly.

Maybe this Bomoh can save UMNO

These shenanigans and ground shifts no longer confuse the people or make them fearful. They make them angry instead, and UMNO is deluding itself if it thinks that the voices that swelled in song at Stadium Darul Aman belonged only to Mukhriz’s political camp. The truth is that the rakyat in Kedah and elsewhere are fed up with the actions of the ruling party and they are no longer content to be silent about it. This certainly is not something any ruling party would want as it prepares for a general election.

UMNO must know that it may have gambled Kedah away unless it has a strikingly brilliant plan for regaining the trust of voters before GE14. But appearances thus far indicate that the party is playing a dangerous game of touch and go. If the clashes currently happening between Mukhriz’s supporters and detractors are any indication, it is likely that the Kedah situation is far from over.

The nation will be watching closely, and the Prime Minister must choose his next move wisely or bear even more open derision in the face of his efforts to turn public opinion around. Where Kedah goes from here, there too may go the rest of the country. Q.E.D

6 thoughts on “UMNO: Three Down but more problems ahead for Party President”

Prime Minister Najib has just pumped Rm15 million from an undisclosed source, probably from the Treasury for a project to show his support for the newly appointed Menteri Besar. Will that work or is it case of too little too late in the day?

I think, prospects for UMNO-BN to retain power in my rice bowl state are dimmer as a result of Mukhriz Mahathir’s ouster. The question to ask is whether when he held power did Mukhriz run ” the state credibly.” (Scott Ng)?

If so, then all Menteri Besars should learn from him the technique of administering their respective states by remote control from Kuala Lumpur, not by staying in touch with people under their care. Who says you can’t have your cake and eat it.

Let us not forget that the son is not the father who I regard as Kedah’s greatest politician. The father micromanaged everything. To a large extent, gutsy Tun Dr. Mahathir accomplished a lot, albeit at the expense of our body politik. He did it his way. His record can speak for itself as historians look into his legacy.

UMNO is now divided against itself. A major change in Malaysian politics.

QUESTION: Can the opposition strike a deal with the anti-Najib UMNO dissidents to get rid of Najib, the most corrupt and incompetent Prime Minister in Malaysia’s history?

As of today, it is clear the opposition cannot take power in Malaysia on its own. But can they offer to throw their political support to the UMNO dissidents in return for certain guarantees and changes about political freedom and fair elections in Malaysia — andz also Anwar’s release? Can they make common cause to get rid of Najib and save the country before Najib destroys it??

Something to think about….Because the most important thing now is getting rid of Najib before he destroys Malaysia because of his and Rosmah’s greed.
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Ambassador Malott,

The Pakatan Harapan is hopeless. PKR is weak with Azmin Ali inclined towards Hadi’s PAS and Najib. Those in Amanah lack credibility. I like to see DAP replacing MCA in BN, but that is well nigh impossible since UMNO and DAP are ideologically different and DAP will not be subservient to UMNO. So Najib and Rosie must be removed by UMNO.–Din Merican

Why does Basha need that RM15m on the spot? Does he need that ‘ang pow’ for marketing his strategy to win over the hearts of certain dissidents of the legislatures? It is my contention that the fund for development Najib ‘donated’ on his visit after the new state government was formed under Basha is to celebrate the victory. Now anybody can ‘donate after Pandi, the AG had declared as legal in receiving donations in this corrupted nation of ours.

We still remember the Perak episode. Remember that ‘cacat’ lady member of the state legislative, Heet who was believed to have demanded RM5m for the change of mind from DAP to form the UMNO/Barisan Government.

In Kedah due to rivalry within Barisan, it was put subtly for development purpose, perhaps. Based on Najib’s ‘money is king’ culture, we can see more to happen in the coming elections by which time PM would have got more ‘donations’ from others like Vincent Tan from gaming outlets like Toto extra draws every month giving millions and many others like magnum and ‘damacai’ and Gentings.

It has become norm like a third rated country to happen the unexpected by closing ones eye because now it is officially declared legal to accept donations and as such no amount of complains can deter a leader with no morals. Every one will now on wards daringly reap the harvest during the ‘harvest season’ for a pocket full of rye.

All the twists and turns can happen when the country is being run by misguided and corrupted leaders for their selfish ends at the cost of the citizens.

During the 60s the debate was what to do with Taiwan calling itself Republic of China with a seat as permanent member of the Security Council. But all that changed when President Nixon went to Peking resulting in Peking as Permanent Member of the UN Security Council.

But before all that Taiwan gained many friends who extended Diplomatic Relations in exchange for permission to use their gold bullion in to borrow money. Those nations that could not make a decision on Taiwan just simply said we will wait for the leader of KMT to pass away and all will be settled.. But thanks to the U.S. Nixon came along.

But in our case waiting for a Nixon to come may be good umbrella when what we need is a roof that will protect the reserves of this country before it runs out. Once it does we will be running on the spot dreaming like many Third World Countries of the good old days.

Azmin should go if we really and seriously wanted any hopes of opposition coming to take over Putera Jaya. I had said this before it is because of Azmin the opposition will be destroyed and it on its way with he clinging to PAS as an ally in the state.

He is leaning towards Hadi to oblige him for his backing to Sultan of Selangor to appoint Azmin as MB in place of Wan Azizah. His attitude is more towards UMNO culture. With illogical mentality of Hadi, how do you expect to progress in a democratic thinking country?

It’s never late than never to check your balance now and not close to GE14. Najib will play fucks with his load of cash like a king to turn on his dissidents to rule again.